49back upon him- or herself. In fact, the cellar is not a space
of everyday life, and those who spend substantial time there
have special reasons for doing so. One either has something
to hide, and the cellar is used for concealment, or as a place of
crime (a torture chamber), one has ‘bodies in the basement’,
or one varies oneself in order to lead a secluded private exist-
ence (the catacombs). The cellar also offers protection and
security in the womb of the earth, as expressed by the form
of vaulting, so evocative of caves; for this reason, it is also a
place of internment (the crypt). The essence of the cellar is
remote from the modern basement, which is not distinguished
as a special place.
A certain normality of residence below ground, on the
other hand, is offered by the basement apartment, albeit under
special conditions. Set as a rule only partially below ground
level (souterrain), it buries occupants only up to their necks,
so to speak, in the earth. A view from the frog’s perspective
grazes the ground, and is moreover oriented upwards, so that
people and things are perceived from an inferior position in
relation to the outer world. To go out means to ascend to the
outside; upon returning home, one descends into one’s home
as though into a cavern.
Traditionally, the cellar offered ideal conditions for stor-
ing and maturing edible products such as vegetables, cheese,
sausage, wine and preserves. Prior to the use of the refrigera-
tor, it was the only consistently cool storage space available.
In this respect, and by virtue of its secluded character and its
direct accessibility for the sake of the most various pleasures,
it becomes the paradoxical antithesis of the one characterized
above – a desolate place now becomes a cloistered land of
milk and honey.> centring, spatial structure, type
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